Sunday, February 19, 2017

Beyond Wrestling: King Of Arts Review

AR Fox & Shynron try to kill each other in an INSANE Ladder Match!

Beyond Wrestling: King Of Arts

Providence, Rhode Island 3/1/15

Before the show begins, AR Fox (along
with Roxy) came out to confront the referee that attacked at Hit And Run, Kevin Quinn (who happens to
look like Christopher Daniels). This brought out several others referees, and
one of them (I believe it was Dan Yost) takes the mic. He says that the
incident from last month was reported to the athletic commission, since AR Fox
hadn’t been medically clearly to compete that night due to a concussion. Dan
Yost suspends Kevin Quinn, and AR Fox forces him to take off his referee shirt.
Quinn then leave as AR Fox waves his referee shirt like a flag. Don’t forget
about Kevin Quinn, because this angle will come into play in the main event.

Back at Hit And Run, Team Pazuzu emerged victorious in a big Eight-Man Tag
against Team Quebec. Now, they’re taking on an eclectic contingent from New York.
I thought this was a pretty solid opening match. There was plenty of good
action throughout, (along with some comedy), and everyone involved got a chance
to shine. Bodies were flying everywhere, and this was exactly what I expected
out of this match. In the end, Team Pazuzu would pick up the win.

2.) Ryan “Rush” Galeone (with Jimmy
Preston) vs. John Silver: **1/2

This match was set up back at Hit And Run, when Jimmy Preston
convinced Ryan Galeone to leave John Silver after they lost a tag team match to
The Gentlemen’s Club. I thought this was a decent match, but it wasn’t much
more than that. It picked up by the end, but for the most part, this was an
average match. That actually surprised me a bit, as I figured this would’ve
been a little better. Jimmy Preston tried to get involved, but Silver kicked
him off the ring apron. This distraction allowed Galeone to take advantage, and
he scored the victory.

After the match, Jimmy Preston was upset
at Silver for kicking him towards the end of the match, and orders Galeone to
beat up Silver some more. Preston then puts over how great Galeone is now that
he’s with him.

3.) Brian Fury vs. Tracy Williams:
***1/2

I had a feeling that this was going to
be solid, considering who was involved, but it ended up being a lot better than
I was expecting. This was a really good match. There was great back & forth
technical wrestling from start to finish, and they packed in a lot of fun
action for a match that only went ten minutes or so. Both guys did a really
good job, and this was easily one of the most entertaining matches on the show.
Brian Fury managed to get the win in the end.

After the match ended, Donovan Dijak
appeared on the stage next to the ring. He exchanged words with Brian Fury (who
was Dijak’s trainer), but then went after a cameraman on the stage who
apparently “insulted” him. Dijak gave this poor guy his finisher, Feast Your
Eyes, on the stage. He then posed in the ring as Fury checked on the cameraman.

4.) Darius Carter (with TJ Marconi) vs.
Matt Tremont: **1/2

This was a solid mid-card match. It’s
weird seeing a guy like Matt Tremont in a non-hardcore setting like this. I
honestly don’t have a whole lot to say about this match. It was just….average.
Tremont eventually got the win with a powerbomb.

After the match was over, TJ Marconi
started to attack Tremont, but Stockade made the save with a barbed wire
baseball bat. He sent the Crusade For Change packing, and it seemed like the
two rivals had become allies. However, Stockade then turned on Tremont, using
the barbed wire baseball bat on him several times. Stockade explained that,
despite the fact that he beat him on two separate occasions, Tremont is the one
that keeps getting bookings & paydays with Beyond Wrestling. He says that
they both bust their ass, but the fans barely care about him, and always react
for Tremont. A very interesting way to continue this feud.

5.) Biff Busick & Drew Gulak vs.
Team Tremendous: ***

After the victory over Chris Hero &
JT Dunn at Hit And Run, Biff Busick
& Drew Gulak called out Team Tremendous. This was essentially the winners
of Tournament For Tomorrow 3 (Team Tremendous) vs. the winners of Tournament
For Tomorrow 3:1 (Busick & Gulak). I think many people were expecting this
to be one of the better matches on the show, but it turned out to be a
disappointment. I’m not saying the match was bad, because it wasn’t. It was
still good, but it never felt like they kicked things up to that next level. It
didn’t exactly feel like a big match. The match was fine for its spot on the
card, but I don’t think it lived up to its full potential, especially
considering who was involved. What really took the match down a bit was the
finish. Dan Barry caught Drew Gulak in small package, and the referee seemed to
count three, and the bell rang, but Gulak and the fans signaled for two. They
continued for another thirty seconds or so, and Barry pinned Gulak again. This
pin looked more like a two count than the first one, but the referee still
called for the bell and awarded the match to Team Tremendous. I have no idea
what the finish was supposed to be, but the only thing I know for sure is that
something went wrong there.

After the match, Dan Barry talks about
the weird finish, and offers a rematch to Busick & Gulak. The two teams
shake hands, and then hug it out.

This is called a “Feeding Frenzy Match”.
Essentially, it’s a Survivor Series Elimination Match, but with tag teams. If
one member of a particular tag team gets eliminated, then the entire team is
eliminated from the match as well. There was a weird situation with some of the
teams involved. Firstly, Qefka The Queit replaced Fire Ant, who missed the show
(apparently) due to travel issues. Additionally, Devin Blaze didn’t have his
usual partner (Tommy Trainwreck) with him, so he teamed with Soldier Ant. To
quickly go over the eliminations (in order), Milk Chocolate eliminated Flawless
And Lawless, JÖNTAR eliminated Da Hoodz, Devin Blaze & Soldier Ant
eliminated Milk Chocolate, Qefka The Quiet & Silver Ant eliminated JÖNTAR
& The Devastation Corporation, Devin Blaze & Soldier Ant eliminated
Qefka The Quiet & Silver Ant, and finally, The Garden State Gods eliminated
Devin Blaze & Soldier Ant to win the match. This was about as good as
it was going to be, considering the amount of bodies involved. Nothing much
else to say other than that.

7.) Chris Hero & JT Dunn vs. Eddie
Kingston & David Starr: ****

I really like what they did here with
this match. Essentially, they have David Starr (who’s been feuding with his
former partner JT Dunn) teaming up with one of Chris Hero’s biggest rivals in
Eddie Kingston. Speaking of Chris Hero & JT Dunn, they make a great team,
but they haven’t exactly seen much success, as they went 0-2 on the last two
shows. Fortunately for them, they were able to rectify that here, as they
managed to pick up the hard-fought victory. I thought this was a great match!!
Chris Hero & JT Dunn work so well together as a team, and to their credit,
the David Starr/Eddie Kingston team did a good job here as well (even though
that team ended up being short-lived). The match featured some incredible
action throughout, and as a whole, this was an awesome tag team match that
served as an excellent continuation of the two singles feuds involved.

After the match, Chris Hero took the
mic, and says he has something that belongs to David Starr. He then pulls
Starr’s headband out of his trunks, and puts it on Starr’s head (that was
gross). Hero then says that you just saw Death By Elbow, which I guess is the
origin of that tag team name! Shortly thereafter, both Eddie Kingston & David
Starr get back up to their feet. Starr flips Kingston off, and Kingston responds
by giving him a backfist.

This match was originally scheduled to
take place at Hit And Run, but it had
to be postponed due to AR Fox having a concussion. To put it simply, this match
was absolutely insane!!! These two guys went out there, and essentially tried
to kill each other with some of the craziest things you could imagine. Shynron
is a crazy high-flyer, and we all know that AR Fox has a complete disregard for
his own well-being. Words can’t do this match justice. You need to see it for
yourself, just so you can understand how insane it actually was. What’s even
nuttier is that, in the end, Shynron didn’t even need a ladder! He simply
jumped off the top rope and managed to pull the title down (ripping it in the
process) in a moment that perfectly capped off a match that was so
unbelievable. It needs to be seen to believed.

As soon as the match ends, Team Pazuzu
runs out and attacks Shynron. Dickinson took the mic, and apparently, he’s
upset with the reaction that Team Pazuzu got in the opener. The group was soon
interrupted by Kimber Lee, who called out Dickinson for turning his back on
Beyond Wrestling. She then challenges Dickinson to a No DQ Match right now, and
it looks like we have an impromptu main event!

9.) No DQ Match - Chris Dickinson vs.
Kimber Lee: ***1/4

Both competitors are wrestling this
match in their street clothes. Kimber Lee immediately takes out the rest of
Team Pazuzu with some Stone Cold Stunners, before getting attacked by
Dickinson. The match itself was relatively good, though I could see people
being uncomfortable with a guy like Chris Dickinson beating up Kimber Lee, even
through she’s an incredibly talented performer. While this technically was a No
DQ Match, it didn’t necessarily live up to that stipulation (in the sense that
no foreign objects were used), but in an impromptu situation like this, I don’t
think it matters that much. Kimber Lee definitely put up a good fight against
Dickinson, but the leader of Team Pazuzu would end up getting the win in a very
controversial manner. He gave Kimber Lee a chair shot to the head, and then hit
her with the Pazuzu Bomb, which send her flying into the bottom turnbuckle in
one of the corners. I’m not sure if she hit her head on the turnbuckle or the
ring bell, but it was a very nasty ending to this match. This finish, and the
match in general, were very controversial at the time this show took place. It
was definitely excessive, but I won’t say anything more beyond that.

JT Dunn and a number of referees tended
to Kimber Lee as the show came to a close.

Overall:
8.0/10

As a whole, this was a pretty good show
from Beyond Wrestling. The Ladder Match between AR Fox & Shynron was easily
the standout match on the show, and is definitely worth checking out. Chris
Hero & JT Dunn vs. Eddie Kingston & David Starr was also a great match.
The rest of the undercard was a bit of a mixed bag. You did have some really
good stuff (like Brian Fury vs. Tracy Williams, which is a hidden gem on this
show, in my opinion), but you also had stuff that either didn’t live up to
their full potential, or were just average. Then, of course, there’s the whole
controversy surrounding the Chris Dickinson/Kimber Lee No DQ Match, which does
give this show a little bit more notoriety (though not in the positive sense).
Despite a few low points, Beyond Wrestling delivered another very good show.